莲叶橐吾 lian ye tuo wu

Senecio nelumbifolius Bureau & Franchet, J. Bot. (Morot) 5: 74. 1891; Senecillis nelumbifolia (Bureau & Franchet) Kitamura; Senecio moisonii H. Léveillé.

Stem erect, 80-100 cm tall, to 1 cm in diam. at base, distally white arachnoid-puberulent and shortly yellow pilose. Basal leaves petiolate; petiole white arachnoid-puberulent, 10-50 cm, base enlarged sheathed; leaf blade peltate, reniform, 7-30 × 13-38(-80) cm, abaxially white arachnoid-puberulent, adaxially glabrous, palmately veined, abaxially with prominent reticulate veins, margin sharply dentate, apex rounded; sinus ca. 1/3 as long as leaf blade, broad, basal lobes suborbicular. Distal stem leaves petiolate; petiole 5-20 cm; sheath enlarged, 4-6 × 2-2.5 cm, white arachnoid-puberulent. Compound corymbs spreading; branches numerous, divaricate, blackish purple, white arachnoid-puberulent and shortly yellow pilose; leaflike and supplementary bracts subulate, minute; peduncles blackish purple, to 1.5 cm, often curved. Capitula numerous. Involucre narrowly cylindric, 10-12 × 3-4 mm, outside glabrous; phyllaries 5-7, in 2 rows, oblong, 2.5-3 mm wide, white ciliate, apex triangular, obtuse; inner phyllaries marginally brown or yellow, broadly membranous. Florets 6-8, rarely to 12, yellow, all tubular, 7-9 mm, slightly extending from involucre; tube as long as limb. Achenes brown, cylindric. Pappus white or yellowish, 6-7 mm, slightly shorter than tubular corolla. Fl. Jul-Sep.

● Forest understories, slopes, alpine meadows; 2400-3900 m. S Gansu, W Hubei, SW and W Sichuan, NE to NW Yunnan.